TED Talk of the Week: How to Start a Movement

To most people, the viral video of a man dancing his heart out at the 2009 Sasquatch Music Festival was an entertaining display of pure joy and contagious dance moves. But toDerek Sivers, entrepreneur and founderMuckWork, it teaches a valuable lesson on how to start a movement.

In this TED Talk of the Week, Sivers plays the video, showing a shirtless “lone nut” standing out from the crowd and busting some pretty rad dance moves (or as Sivers describes it, “being ridiculed”). When another festival-goer, the first follower, jumps up and joins in, the lone nut embraces him as an equal and automatically becomes a leader. A second follower joins in, making them a crowd – and a crowd is news. Momentum builds as more and more followers run from the sidelines to join the dance party. And before you know it (actually, in just three minutes) – you have a movement.

Aside from the obvious lesson that grass stains are an inevitable result of festival dance swarms, Sivers points out something less apparent. In this three-minute TED Talk, Sivers explains that leadership is over-glorified. While the shirtless dancer may get the credit, it was actually the first follower that transformed him into a leader. If you want to start a movement, Sivers says, “have the courage to follow and show others how to follow.”